The stories behind the buildings, statues and other points of interest that make Manhattan fascinating.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The Surprising Little Synagogue at No. 305 West 79th Street

An unfortunate sidewalk shed obscures the building in 2011 -- photo by Alice Lum

In the 1880s and ‘90s the Upper West Side was developing at
a blinding rate. Comfortable homes for
middle and upper-middle class families filled the side streets while the
avenues became lined with mansions designed in the latest styles: Flemish Revival, Romanesque and Queen Anne.

With the mansions came the need for private carriage houses
and a row of two-story stables was erected along West 79th Street to
serve the home owners of West End Avenue.
Among them was No. 305 – a modest but attractive structure of gray-beige
brick with limestone trim.

A plain limestone cornice supported by brick pilasters with
stone capitals separated the two stories.
By The recessing every fifth course of brick of the second floor the
architect accomplished the feel of rusticated stone. Here he added eye-catching splayed limestone
lintels above the three window openings.
An unpretentious pressed metal cornice was topped by a handsome stone
balustrade.

Photo carlesbachshul.com

As more and more residents poured into the Upper West side,
schools, hospitals and churches followed.
Shearith Israel built its impressive synagogue on 70th Street
and Central Park West and down the block from No. 305 West 79th the elaborate
Dutch Reformed Collegiate Church was erected.

Times changed for the little carriage house and the
neighborhood as a whole. By the turn of
the century many of the grand houses along the avenues were being razed;
replaced by immense apartment buildings.
In 1907 the carriage house was no longer a private stable. The Auto Operating Company was doing business
here as the era of the horse gave way to that of the automobile.

Before the outbreak of World War I every structure on the
block had been demolished—every one except for No. 305. At the corner of West End Avenue the hulking
red brick and limestone New Century apartment building was constructed in 1910
and at No. 307 West 79th Street rose the Imperial Court. Squashed in between remained the little brick
former carriage house.

In 1928 the former carriage house retained the balustrade above the cornice as it was used as a garage and laundry for the Imperial Court next door -- photo NYPL Collection

A Mr. Hargraves fell on hard times in 1914. He parked his impressive seven-passenger
Peerless automobile which he had bought in 1912 in No. 305. The car boasted “every modern equipment” and
was a hybrid of the landaulet and touring bodies. Hargraves had paid $6,200 for the car—over $100,000
today.

But the once-wealthy man experienced what he referred to as “reversals”
and advertised the Peerless in Motor Age magazine in order to raise fast
cash. “Condition absolutely dependable,”
said his ad. “Will accept $975 for quick
sale.”

The building was used by the Imperial Apartment for years. A laundry was installed on the upper floor
while tenants’ automobiles were garaged below.

Then along came Congregation Kehilath Jacob.

The small group acquired No. 305 in the 1940s and renovated
it as a synagogue. Unlike some of the other, grander temples, the
congregation expressed its joy and devotion through dance and song as well as
more traditional rituals.

In the meantime Rabbi Naphtali Carlebach was among the
leading rabbis in Berlin and, later, Baden, Austria. With the oppression of the rising Nazi Party,
the rabbi brought his family to the safety of the United States.

photo by Alice Lum

In 1950 Rabbi Carlebach assumed leadership of the
congregation. At the time of his death
in 1967, his son Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach took over the guidance of the synagogue
and in the 1980s his twin brother, Rabbi Eli Chaim, assumed an equal position.

Rabbi Schlomo Carlebach was an accomplished songwriter,
prompting The New York Times to call him “the foremost songwriter in
contemporary Judaism.” His “Am Yisrael Chai” became a rallying cry
for Jews trapped in the Soviet Union.

Because of the decades of the family’s leadership, the
synagogue is familiarly called “The Carlebach Shul.” The synagogue says of its building “It is
certainly one of the most unique synagogues in New York City, possibly in the
world.”

photo by Alice Lum

Indeed the little brick holdout stuffed between the massive
apartment buildings is endearing enough—that there is a synagogue inside makes
it one of New York’s hidden wonders.